


Institutes and Corporations

by miraeyeteeth



Category: Stellar Firma (Podcast), The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Ben Meredith exhibiting the duality of man, Body Swap, Crack, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-04
Updated: 2019-03-04
Packaged: 2019-11-09 01:49:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17992541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miraeyeteeth/pseuds/miraeyeteeth
Summary: David 7 and Elias Bouchard experience an interesting phenomenon.





	Institutes and Corporations

Martin was trotting along the corridor past Elias’ office. He didn’t like passing through here, but sometimes he had to access the storage room beyond, and mostly Elias stayed in his office when he wasn’t coming out to murder people, so generally it was pretty safe. Martin hoped.

Today, though, was not apparently his lucky day, because as he approached the door, it swung open.

And then back shut.

And then open again.

And shut.

Martin slowed, and approached cautiously. He held his breath and peeked through the door when it was still partially open.

Elias was standing there, apparently utterly enthralled by the workings of the door. He lifted his gaze and spotted Martin. A wide smile appeared on his face. “Oh, hello!” he said brightly.

Martin took a step back. “Um, hello…”

“Have you seen this? The doors. They’re just… opening! It’s amazing!”

Martin blinked. “The… the doors? Oh god, what’s happening with the doors? Is it Michael again? What’s coming through the doors?”

Elias suddenly looked alarmed. “Is there something supposed to be coming through the doors? I wasn’t told about anything coming through the doors.”

“Nothing is supposed to be coming through the doors!” Martin exclaimed.

“Oh. All right, so everything is fine then. Er, who’re you? Did you turn the holovision on? It’s a very elaborate… thing we’ve got going on here, and I’m not sure what it’s got to do with the brief.”

“The… what? What are you talking about? You know who I am.”

“I… do?” Elias said, sounding confused.

“Okay, what on earth is going on, Elias? Is there some kind of memory-eating monster that’s gotten loose in here? Or is this just some kind of test?”

“Elias? I’m not Elias. I’m David 7. I think you might have tried the wrong room if you’re looking for an Elias.”

“David… seven?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“What happened to one through six?” Martin asked.

“Um, I’m pretty sure they were k- er, recycled.”

“Right, this is weird, even for you. I’m just going to… go.” Martin said, sidling past the doorway without turning his back on Elias.

“Wait! Before you go, could you show me how to turn off the holovision? I’ve tried, but I can’t find any of the console buttons in this and I think that Trexel might be really angry if he comes back and finds everything like this, especially if we can’t find the brief like this. I don’t… I don’t want to be recycled like the other Davids, please,” Elias pleaded.

Was Martin really so instinctively helpful that he’d even listen to  _ Elias _ ? Apparently. “What’s a Trexel?”

“My… supervisor?”

That sounded bad. “The… Beholding… is coming here?”

“Is that what he’s called? I know he watches a lot of holovision programs but I didn’t know he had a nickname from that.”

“So Trexel is a person, then?”

“Yes,” Elias replied.

Martin could probably put off dealing with that for the moment, then. “…what’s a holovision?”

“Um, this is a holovision?” Elias replied gesturing around him.

“…reality? Look, I’ve had enough existential crises for this week, thanks.”

“What? This is… real?”

“As far as I know,” Martin replied.

“Where am I, then?”

“…the Magnus Institute.”

“Oh. Is… this a new planet?” Elias asked. “I hope it wasn’t one that we designed.”

“What? No, this is still Earth, the last time I checked.”

“…Earth?”

“Yes.”

“So I’m not trapped in a tiny room needing to design planets to preserve my existence?”

“I’m almost entirely certain that’s not something Elias does.”

“So… I’m not going to die?”

“Um, well… I mean, probably not?” Martin said.

\------------------

It had been a disorienting first few moments, Elias thought. And he would definitely need to find a way back eventually; he had far too much to do at the Institute. But for now, the wide vistas of information stretched out before him were far too tempting. Entire planets at the tips of his fingers? How could he say no?

The access keys had been easy enough to obtain from the minds of those within the vessel, and he’d had the room controls laid open before him within the hour. He had almost had all the rest of the system under his command by the time that Trexel had strolled through the door, nineteen minutes before the end of their shift. Apparently, he had not been pleased to learn that the design brief had been completed and sent back out hours ago. That was unfortunate.

Elias continued his work at the console and didn’t pay any mind to the shouting and pounding on the vacuum tube at the back of the room.


End file.
